Unit 3. The united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland

The United Kingdom is situated in the north-west coast of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean on the north and north-west and the North Sea on the east. It is situated on two large islands, the larg­er of which is Great Britain, the smaller is Ireland. In addition to these two islands Great Britain includes over five hundred small islands. The total area of Great Britain is 240,046 sq. kms.

Great Britain, the largest island in Europe, contains England, Scotland and Wales. Administratively Great Britain is divided into 55 counties. The biggest cities of Great Britain are London, Bir­mingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.

England is the largest part of Great Britain (it occupies over 50% of the territory and its population amounts to 83 % of the total population of Great Britain). Wales is a peninsula in the south-west of the island of Great Britain. It occupies about 9 % of its territory with the population of 4.8 % of the total population. Scotland is the most northern part of Great Britain with a territory of 32 % of the total territory and with a population of 9 % of the total population of Great Britain. Northern Ireland occupies the north-east part of the island of Ireland. Its territory amounts to 5.2 % of the total territory of Great Britain. The main cities of Northern Ireland are Belfast and Londonderry.

The capital of the country is London. English is the official language. The Welsh have their own language, but many Welsh people do not know Welsh. Scotland and Ireland also have their own languages, but these are rarely spoken and English is known by everyone there.

The population of the U.K. is nearly 60 million people. The population lives mostly in towns and cities and their suburbs - four out of every five people live in towns. Over 46 million people live in England, over 3 million in Wales, a little over 5,5 million in Scotland, about 1,5 million - in the Northern Ireland. London’s population is over 7 million people. The British nation consists of the English, Scots, the Welsh and the Irish. There are many people of all colours and races in the U.K.

The climate of Great Britain is mild. It is not too hot in summers or too cold in winter. It often rains in England. Rain falls in the summer and in the winter, in autumn and in spring. Snow falls only in the north and west of country.

The surface of England and Ireland is flat, but Scotland and Wales are mountainous. Many parts of the country have beautiful villages. There are many rivers in Great Britain. The main river is the Thames and many ships and barges go up and down the river. The longest river is the Severn. It is 350 kilometres long.

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Officially the head of state is the Queen (or the King). However, the power of the Queen in Great Britain is not absolute. She acts only on the advice of the min­isters and Parliament. There is no written constitution in Great Britain. The main principles of British legislation are expressed in other docu­ments, like "Magna Charta", "Habeas Corpus Act", "Bill of Rights", the Parliamentary Act which decided the position of the House of Lords, and the Judicature Act. British legislation does not provide written guarantees of individual political rights.

Parliament in Great Britain has existed since 1265 and is the eldest Parliament in the world. It consists of two Houses — the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords consists of 1000 peers who are not elected by the people. The House of Commons is a nation-wide representative body which is elected by the people at a general election, within 5 years of the last election. After the general election the Queen appoints the head of the government — the Prime Minister. As a rule the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has won the election. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers to make up the government.

The main political parties of Great Britain are the Labour Party, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. The Conservative party came into being in the 19th century as a result of the evolution of the Tory party. The Labour party was founded in 1900. Since 1906 it has borne the name of the Labour Party. The Labour Party won the election for the first time in 1945.

Great Britain is a highly-developed industrial country. The main fields of British industry are machine-building, ship-building, metal­lurgy, and electronics.

EXERCISES

Exercise 1. Insert the right part of the world.

1. The United Kingdom is situated in … (cеверо-запад) coast of Europe.

2. The United Kingdom is washed by the Atlantic Ocean on … (север) and … (северо-запад) and the North Sea on … (восток).

3. Wales is a peninsula in … (юго-запад) of the island of Great Britain.

4. Scotland is located in … (север) of Great Britain.

5. Northern Ireland occupies … (северо-восток) part of the island of Ireland.

6. The capital of the country – London – is located in … (юго-восток) of England.

Exercise 2.